IT Network Manager

OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility - and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide. 

Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Intro to Position

As our IT Network Manager, you will lead a dedicated team of network and voice engineers while bridging the gap between traditional enterprise networking and cutting-edge broadcast technology. We are looking for a people-first, Cisco-certified leader to guide, mentor, and empower an engineering team overseeing the lifecycle of our network infrastructure. Beyond technical mastery, you will cultivate a high-performing team culture centered on collaboration, continuous growth, high availability, and proactive security. If you thrive in inspiring technical talent within an 'always-on' environment and have a passion for seamless media delivery, this is your next challenge.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Talent Development: Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing team of network and voice engineers; establish clear goals, manage team performance, drive professional development, and champion a collaborative, supportive engineering culture.
• Enterprise Architecture & Infrastructure Management: Oversee the design, implementation, and optimization of enterprise network, wireless, and Storage Area Networking (SAN) infrastructure across Cisco ACI, Catalyst/Nexus, Firepower (FTD), SD-WAN, and Meraki platforms.
• Broadcast Network Alignment: Partner with broadcast engineering teams to guide your team in maintaining a high-availability IP broadcast network that carries low-latency, real-time audio and video traffic for NPR’s daily content production and live transmission.
• Operational Excellence & Incident Leadership: Lead network operations, incident management, and root-cause analysis for complex issues; coach team members through high-pressure troubleshooting using monitoring tools like SolarWinds, Cisco Nexus Dashboard, and ThousandEyes.
• Documentation & Standards: Develop and maintain network architecture documentation, standard operating procedures, and routing protocols (BGP, EIGRP), ensuring network reliability, scalability, security, and team operational best practices.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Executive Stakeholder Communication: Collaborate with Security, DevOps, Systems, and Enterprise Application teams, while effectively communicating network performance, risk analyses, incident reports, and strategic initiatives to senior leadership.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications 

• 8+ years of experience in enterprise networking.
• 3+ years directly managing and developing technical teams in a network leadership or manager role.
• Proven track record of talent development, performance management, team building, and leading engineering teams through major operational projects.
• Strong hands-on experience with at least two of the following:
  • Cisco Nexus (NX-OS)
  • Cisco Firepower (FTD)
  • Cisco Routing and Switching
  • Cisco ACI
  • Cisco SD-WAN
  • Cisco Meraki
  • Enterprise Wireless Networks
• Strong expertise in routing and switching (BGP, EIGRP).
• Experience with at least one of the following network management and observability platforms: SolarWinds, Cisco Nexus Dashboard, Cisco Intersight, or similar enterprise network monitoring and management tools .
• Strong troubleshooting, communication, team leadership, and documentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams through critical production outages and high-pressure incident response, ensuring fast service recovery, effective team coordination, and business continuity.
• Ability to translate complex broadcast requirements into scalable network architectures, overseeing robust business continuity planning, and fostering a team culture of technical excellence and psychological safety.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cisco CCNP (Enterprise or Data Center).
• lCisco CCIE certification.
• Experience with ThousandEyes.
• Experience with high-quality, real-time audio and video over IP networks, such as SMPTE ST 2110 and NDI, particularly in a IP broadcast environment.
• Working knowledge of PTP, SMPTE ST 2110, multicast, and QoS.
• Experience with large-scale or multi-site enterprise environments.
• Experience with network automation / Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience with managing on-prem and hosted Telephony and AV systems.
• Experience supporting audio/video transmission or production workflows.

Work Location & Requirements

• Hybrid Permitted: This is a hybrid permitted role. The employee will be required to be in the office at the Washington, D.C. location as assigned. On-site assignments are determined by a monthly rotation schedule. The employee must also reside in Washington, D.C. / Maryland / Virginia Metro Area.

Job Type

• This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $158,500 - $180,000 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Benefits: NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees. 

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Pay Range

$158,500—$180,000 USD

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal - to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application process, please reach out to [email protected].

You may read NPR’s privacy policy  to learn about how NPR may handle information you submit with any application.

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